By John Byrne and Ray Long .......Clout Street 3:36 p.m. CST, February 9, 2012Mayor Rahm Emanuel today said he wants state lawmakers to approve a statewide handgun registry.The request immediately ran into staunch opposition in Springfield, where gun control issues are often as much about geography as partisanship.Rep. Brandon Phelps, who has championed efforts to pass a concealed weapons bill in Illinois, said the mayor’s office called him Thursday morning to let him know the registration proposal would be introduced.

“Number 1, my first response was I don’t know why you’re trying to do this statewide because we don’t want your policies on us downstate,” said Phelps, a Southern Illinois Democrat from Harrisburg. “Number. 2, it’s never going to work. They’re trying to go after criminals. They’re never going to register their guns. They won’t pay the fee. “Phelps called Emanuel’s initiative a “slap in the face of every law-abiding gun owner.” The mayor said requiring handgun owners to register particular weapons would reduce the flow of illegal guns into Chicago from around the state by making it easier for police to figure out where they came from.

The registry proposal, which Emanuel said lawmakers will introduce in Springfield in coming weeks, would require anyone who buys a handgun to pay a $65 registration fee. To register a gun, a purchaser would need to provide his name and address, along with the weapon's serial number and the place and date of purchase. The registry would be in addition to the firearm ownership standards all gun owners must already meet.

Emanuel said he's aware it will be tough to get lawmakers from outside Chicago to go along with the idea of a gun registry."I didn't go into this because I thought it was a slam dunk. You don't need me for that," Emanuel said at a news conference with Police Supt. Garry McCarthy and others at a youth center in the Roseland neighborhood to announce the proposal. "You don't need my political capital for the easy things. You use your political capital for the tough things that are the right things to do."

But Emanuel said statistics show more than half the firearms recovered by Chicago police come from inside Illinois. "I'm introducing this because our law enforcement community, our parents, our community groups, our block and neighborhood watch groups, need a proper gun legislation to complement all the other activities we're doing," he said.

State Rep. Rosemary Mulligan, R-Park Ridge, will be one of the bill's sponsors in the House, Emanuel said, which he hopes will help give the proposal the bipartisan boost it needs to pass the legislature.Critics are likely to point out that criminals who don't abide by gun laws are unlikely to register their weapons.The Tribune is gathering reaction from state lawmakers and is asking Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn to weigh in as well. We'll update this story when we have more information.

Were Not having any part of it...right WW???....bad enough we have the FOID in illinois and i agree with the comment that these politicians from Chicago need to get real and stop insisting that the whole state go along with their backwards thinking in That city!!!

Maybe if the city of Chicago had an effecient jail system they wouldn't be letting multiple repeat offenders [felons]..with disregard for the laws on the books already go free to repeat violent crimes...it's so simple a caveman [me ] could understand it...criminals dont abide by the laws..thats WHY they are criminals...the worst is the repeat felons for seriously violent crimes that are let go do to overcrowding...come on Chicago with the fees they charge for parking and tolls in that city they have no excuse for their shortsightedness ...they should have built onto their jail system yrs ago...its so ridiculous i will stop now...

Don't you already have to fill out all kinds of paperwork with your name, address, serial number on the gun, FOID card number, and place of purchase to buy a gun? They do a background check on any handgun. You even have to wait 24 hours to buy a shotgun! They already keep track, how is charging me $65 going to to help them do that any better? oh wait, I forgot that I live in IL...

And who is this Republican rep that's supposed to be supporting this bill? There's a guy from my area that has never been involved in politics running for state rep this year because of things like this. We really need to make some changes in our State leadership starting with the Governor and working our way down... Has anybody seen Quinn's plan for education funding? How about public pensions? Things need to change.

I've said it before, but how do we get Chicago to secede from the state... be the District of Chicago or something. Let them take care of their own crap and be as corrupt as they want. Then the rest of the state might actually be able to pull ourselves out of this craphole we've fallen into

"When a hunter is in a tree stand with high moral values and with the proper hunting ethics and richer for the experience, that hunter is 20 feet closer to God." ~Fred Bear

Mayor Emanuel is an Obama, Holder,Pelosi, Biden clone. He is doing this to run interference for Obama and his gun control agenda as well as a diversion tactic to help Holder with the gun control controversy that has him on the hot seat.

Last edited by Sopchoppy on Fri Feb 10, 2012 12:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Just got this from the ISRA. It's even worse than I thought. You have to pay the $65.00 registration fee EVERY FIVE YEARS!!! If you can't pay, then your guns must be surrendered. A Constitutional right!!! Unbelievable! Marxism at it's finest!! .....

CHICAGO MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL LAUNCHES NEW ATTACK ON YOUR RIGHTS

On Thursday, February 9th, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called for the Illinois General Assembly to pass a $65 per handgun fee to be levied against every law-abiding gun owner in Illinois  INCLUDING YOU. Of course, gang bangers, murderers, robbers and rapists are exempt from the fee. This fee would be charged every 5 years on every handgun you own. Additionally, you would have to register with the government in the same manner as sex-offenders.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU

If Rahm Emanuels gun tax passes, you will be required to pack up your handguns and take them to the local police station for examination and registration. If you have 10 handguns to bring in, youll walk out paying $650 in taxes. If you own 100 handguns, the government will lighten your wallet to the tune of $6,500. And, youll have to repeat this process every 5 years  unless Emanuel and his buddies in the legislature bump this up to an ANNUAL FEE.

WHAT IF YOU DONT HAVE THE MONEY TO PAY THE TAX?

If you cannot pay the $65 tax on EACH of your handguns, you will have to surrender your guns to the local police for destruction.

WHAT IF YOU DECIDE NOT TO PAY THE TAX?

If you decide not to pay the tax, the police will come to your house and take your guns away. They will also arrest you and charge you with a CLASS 2 FELONY.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP STOP THIS HANDGUN TAX IN ITS TRACKS?

1. Using the link below, contact your State Senator and State Representative and politely tell them that you are a law-abiding Illinois firearm owner who does not want their rights taxed. Tell your Senator and Representative that you expect them to vote AGAINST Rahm Emanuels gun tax should it come to the floor of the legislature.

2. Please pass this alert on to all your gun-owning friends and family, tell them to follow the directions contained in the alert.

3. Please post this alert to any and all Internet Blogs or Bulletin Boards to which you belong.

5. Please use the donation link below to send a generous donation to the ISRA, today. We badly need the money to continue to fight against Emanuel and his gun-grabbing pals. Think about it:would you rather send your money as taxes to Emanuel, or donate to the ISRA?!

Let's say for the sake of argument that this God-awful law passes and we are stuck with it. As the proposal reads, if you cannot afford to pay $65.00 every 5 years for your handguns then you must do without and surrender them.

So......if the right to keep and bear arms is in fact an individual Constitutional right, then will the same RINO/Democrat/Lib/Socialist/Communists then push for government handouts to those gun owners who can't afford it and have the government pay for it? Why not, as Obama has done just that in his Health Care Law as far as infanticide goes? If you can't afford to kill your baby then WE TAXPAYERS have to pay for it. Can't afford a cell phone? NO PROBLEM! The government will fund that too! Same with internet access.

So why not for gun ownership/self-protection? If you have a right to an abortion, a cell phone, and the internet, then the 2A should be treated with no less consideration.

You may very well be right about the smokescreen bo. CCW is getting closer, and now that we (Illinois) are the lone holdout state with NO form of CCW at all (except for Chicago Alderman and other politicians who's lives are worth SO much more than ours...) making us the most Constitutionally backward state in the nation as far as civil rights goes, the pressure is building. No longer can they make the imbecilic argument about there being "shootouts at traffic lights and 4 way stops if someone goes out of turn", and other such inanities if people can excercise their Constitutional birthright of self defense. This has NOT happened in all the other 49 states that have CCW in some form or another.

Although we ARE different here. Just look at the collective criminal mindset and conviction rate of our governors!!!

Maybe the PEOPLE of Illinois should have CCW and the POLITICIANS should be the one's denied!!!

"Maybe the PEOPLE of Illinois should have CCW and the POLITICIANS should be the one's denied!!!"

IMHO, I couldn't agree more.

"This is the world we are born into -- we should never let that slip away from us. May it never cease to stimulate, inspire and humble us." from Stalking & Still-Hunting: The Ground Hunter's Bible by G. Fred Asbell